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The Get Healthy Tampa Bay Podcast
Bringing all things health and wellness to Tampa Bay, FL from your very own family and obesity medicine physician, Dr. Kerry Reller, MD, MS. We will discuss general medical topics, weight management, and local spots and events focusing on health, wellness, and nutrition in an interview and solo-cast format. Published weekly.
The Get Healthy Tampa Bay Podcast
E188: Why Weight Loss Gets Harder After 35 with Dr. Janeeka Benoit
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Welcome to the Get Healthy Tampa Bay Podcast with Dr. Kerry Reller! This week, I am joined by Dr. Janeeka Benoit, a double board-certified internal medicine and sports medicine physician who helps women improve their metabolic health and prevent chronic disease.
In this episode, we discuss why weight loss can become more challenging for women in their mid-30s and beyond, including changes in muscle mass, metabolism, hormones, and body composition. Dr. Benoit explains the importance of resistance training, everyday movement, sleep, and stress management, while sharing practical ways to build healthier habits without striving for perfection.
Tune in to learn how focusing on metabolic health, consistency, and sustainable lifestyle changes can help women feel stronger and healthier as they age.
Dr. Janeeka Benoit is a Double Board-Certified Internist & Sports Medicine physician and the founder of Invessel Health & Wellness.
She helps high-achieving women achieve sustainable weight loss to lower their risk of chronic disease and live longer, healthier lives.
Her approach is grounded in both clinical expertise and personal experience. Despite leading an active lifestyle, she experienced unexpected weight gain and rising cholesterol, revealing the gap between conventional weight loss advice and true metabolic health.
Today, Dr. Janeeka's mission centers on helping women achieve Less Weight. Less Risk. More Years so they can spend more of life healthy, active, and strong.
00:28 – Meet Dr. Janeeka Benoit
03:22 – The Meaning Behind Invessel Health & Wellness
06:04 – Why Women’s Bodies Change in Midlife
08:05 – Understanding Metabolic Syndrome
09:10 – Why Belly Fat Increases Around Menopause
13:30 – Muscle Mass, Metabolism & Weight Gain
17:30 – How to Make Resistance Training More Effective
21:00 – Everyday Movement Matters More Than You Think
26:33 – Sleep, Stress, Cortisol & Weight
31:50 – Mindset, Consistency & Letting Go of Perfection
Connect with Dr. Janeeka
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drjaneekabenoit_do/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/janeeka-benoit-do-dr-j-107a90200/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1DVChq73nt/?mibextid=wwXIfr
Connect with Dr. Reller
Podcast website: https://gethealthytbpodcast.buzzsprou...
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kerryrellermd/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ClearwaterFamilyMedicine
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/clearwaterfamilymedicine/
Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@kerryrellermd
Clearwater Family Medicine and Allergy website: https://sites.google.com/view/clearwa...
Podcast: https://gethealthytbpodcast.buzzsprou...
Subscribe to the Get Healthy Tampa Bay Podcast on Apple podcasts, Spotify, Amazon music, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Pandora.
All right. Hi, everybody. Welcome back to the Get Healthy Tampa Bay podcast. I'm your host, Dr. Kerry Reller, and today we have Dr. Janeeka Benoit. Welcome to the podcast
Janeeka BenoitThank you so much. I'm so happy to be here
Kerry RellerYes, and we're happy to have you, of course. You have a lot of unique specialties in your background, and why don't you share with us basically who you are, what you do, and how you kinda got into what you're doing now?
Janeeka BenoitYes. I am
Meet Dr. Janeeka Benoit
Janeeka Benoita double board-certified internist and sports medicine physician. And, given my spec- my specialties, I've had the pleasure of working in various areas of medicine. So I've done outpatient medicine, I've done hospitals medicine, I've done sports medicine, I've done it all. But I would say the one thing that was always hard for me going through training and just, seeing patients in gen- in general was all this chronic disease, right? And it's just
Kerry Rellerஉம்
Janeeka BenoitWe are, managing these chronic diseases, we're managing the medications, and I wanted a way to, really help people find health, while they're navigating a chronic disease. And I've also developed a, a special bond with women, just being a woman myself, and having all the nuances, that comes with our bodies and the changes that we go through during midlife and just even like the thought process, the way that we think about ourselves and our bodies through different seasons, right? When we're younger versus, having children versus, studying for an MCAT exam our body goes through different things and I feel like sometimes we can be especially hard on ourselves. I wanted a way to, help women lose weight and also prevent chronic disease and we-- I understand that prevention is at different areas. There's primary, secondary, and tertiary. And with that I created my own telehealth practice InvestWell Health and Wellness, to help women, especially high-achieving women, lose weight, prevent chronic disease so that they could live longer and healthier lives. And also something that I, forgot to mention that I think is really important is that in my mid-30s, I developed this unexpected weight gain. I just, But I wouldn't say it was extremely unexpected, but I had gone through a surgery and I just gained weight much quicker than I ever had in my life, and it became really hard to lose it. And so as I was working on that, I, and I was losing weight, and so I remember going to my primary care doctor to get my lab tests and my LDL cholesterol was elevated for the first time ever. And I have a family history of cardiovascular disease, and I was like, "Oh my gosh," "I need to get on top of this quick, fast, in a hurry." And I've gained weight before when I was younger, but it was much easier to lose weight. And as I was navigating my own journey, I was helping patients with it, with their journey, I was like, "Okay," "I can do this myself," and I've done that through InvestWell Health and Wellness, my telehealth practice.
Kerry RellerOkay. I have so many comments and questions. One, you don't look a day over 30, so I don't know how
Janeeka BenoitThank you
Kerry Reller"Oh, in my 30s." I know it's a podcast, but looking at you no way. But also you said... I wanted to understand why you named it In vessel Health and Wellness.
Janeeka BenoitYes. Yes. Okay. So I actually did a, a, s- a post on this yesterday.
The Meaning Behind Invessel Health & Wellness
Janeeka BenoitAnd so it came from three things. It came from three things. Number one, it started with my mindset. I was thinking, "Okay, Invessel Health and Wellness is going to be like this large company." And when you like you see other companies, so for example, there's like Facebook and Netflix. At face value those names sound ambiguous, right? And so I was like, "Okay, I'm gonna name it Invessel," because that's also going to help people inquire what it, like what it means. And the next thing was, my training. I'm an osteopathic physician, and one of the tenets of our osteopathic principles is that a person is composed of three parts: mind, body, and spirit. That is essentially your vessel is your mind, body, and spirit. And I know that with health, it is an investment. It, you have to make an investment in your health. And and the type of woman I attract, who's a high achiever, she's going to make an investment in her health. Like she has made investments, in her career, in her business. And maybe her health has taken a, a back burner 'cause she's placed all these things at the sacrifice of her health. And she's at this point she's "No, I have invested into all these things in my life. It is time to make an investment in my health as well." So it stands for Invest in Vessel. So I just, c- I put all those words together and made it Invessel
Kerry RellerI love it. I think that really encompasses everything of what you just said. And I, I haven't heard any, osteopathic doctors speak of that mind, body, and spirit like framework before,
Janeeka BenoitYes
Kerry RellerThat's actually new to me, so tha- thank you for sharing that.
Janeeka BenoitJa
Kerry RellerI think what's interesting is, and helpful is when, a physician is going through their personal experience. I feel like what you just said, it really helps resonate with the patients better and get them, really on board and understanding more of what you have gone through when they're going through it too. So I think having that personal experience is always like a really great, additional way to, teach and learn and mimic. And, I think we're all human, right? So nobody's perfect, so having gone through it yourself is such a great way to, learn and be able to teach other, your patients as well. So that, that's a, a- I, I thank you for, sharing your story, of course.
Janeeka BenoitThank you. Thank you. Appreciate it
Kerry RellerYou focus on women and obviously, out there right now hot topics are menopause, perimenopause, and maybe you were or weren't doing that at 35, that sounds, or mid-30s you said. But what, how does that take effect and what do you see with your patients now of how that's playing a role into how you're treating them and preventing chronic disease, helping them live healthier and longer lives kind of thing?
Janeeka BenoitYes. And I explain it to my patients from tr- two fronts
Why Women’s Bodies Change in Midlife
Janeeka Benoitbecause we have chronological aging and we have ovarian aging, okay? And so with chronological aging, over time as we get older, we lose lean mass about 3 to 8% per decade starting at the age of 30, okay? And so that is g- what is going to lower our metabolism, and that is going to lead to weight gain that is attributed to chronological aging. Now, there is ovarian aging, and with ovarian aging, as, estrogen starts to become depleted that can lead to increased adiposity because, our fat does release estrogen to some degree. And so as a way to, compensate our body is going to create increased fat predominantly around the b- the belly Heart and liver and muscle, and this type of fat is inflammatory. And with that inflammation, it can lead to, things like insulin resistance, and that leads to, impairing the metabolic milieu of your body, can also raise blood pressure and increase cholesterol, and that, creates the storm for something called metabolic syndrome, which is, something that I am always looking for when a woman comes to me and they're saying, "Okay I'm doing all the things and it's hard to lose weight. What is happening?" And so there's all of that. There's the chronological aging. There's the ovarian aging that can lead to insulin resistance and create the perfect storm for metabolic syndrome, which can c- make you at risk for heart attack, strokes, type 2 diabetes
Kerry RellerAnd what, for listeners, what is, metabolic syndrome and how is that defined?
Janeeka BenoitAnd so first I'd like to start off, by saying, your body is really good at handling basic things. And so those basic things is handling blood sugar and handling cholesterol and managing your blood pressure, right? And what happens is during
Understanding Metabolic Syndrome
Janeeka Benoitmetabolic syndrome, all those things get impaired. And so blood sugar gets harder to control. Cholesterol gets harder to control. You may be increasing you may h- be having increased fat around your midsection causing increased waist circumference. And so all of that is composed of, metabolic syndrome. And I also like to say our body is like a fac- a factory, right? And so with metabolic syndrome, you have a malfunction of your factory. And so when the factory's balanced and everybody is in the right departments and doing its thing, that is metabolic health, right? Your body is in harmony versus when the factory's in disarray and there's chaos and there's overwhelm, from, uncontrolled blood sugar, cholesterol increased inflammatory fat that is around your heart, liver, intestines that, creates metabolic syndrome.
Kerry RellerSo you already alluded to it a couple times. So how do you explain to patients, like, why does that weight gain in women occur in the midsection?
Janeeka BenoitYeah. And so that occur-
Why Belly Fat Increases Around Menopause
Janeeka Benoitit happens in the midsection because what happens is, number one is that your liver is your, it's like your processing plant of this factory that is your body. And what's happening is that your, over time, the liver gets over capacity, right? Because the liver is to, is to store sugar. But when the liver is over capacity, it starts converting that sugar into fat, and your liver is in, it's in your abdomen, right? And so it starts to convert that sugar into fat. And so now you are starting to spill out fat, like your liver is overproducing fat, but now you're also overspilling this fat into areas that it doesn't belong, right? So not only do you have it here in the midsection that is, as a result of your liver overproducing fat, but then you also have it spilling out in other areas like your heart and your muscle. And it is a malfunction of your liver that's, that's all, related to this estrogen deficiency, so you have estrogen deficiency that creates this increased adiposity that is creating the perfect storm for insulin resistance and that causes now all this fat storage that is in areas that it's not supposed to be
Kerry RellerI had, I, I don't know if I heard from this person in particular, but they used like a analogy or whatever you wanna call it. So like a male, is able to gain that weight throughout their whole life in the middle, right? And sometimes if you push on it, like it's firm, and that's usually what we're talking about, like the visceral fat, this dangerous fat. Whereas if it's soft and subcutaneous, it's not as harmful, but it still can be. And then the women, when we are, ovaries are working while we still have ovarian reserve they're protecting this abdominal area a little more so that you can have a, use the uterus that supposedly, not everybody uses it, but to have a child, right? So they're eliminating the fat from that area, or limiting I should say. And then once the, uterus is done being used, then unfortunately, the lack of estrogen all of a sudden is allowing us to gain weight in that area. I thought it was a really interesting kind of just comparison to males and why
Janeeka BenoitThat is a really great analogy
Kerry Rellerknow if you're religious or anything, why God created us in that way so that we could have the ability to birth a child and hold a child in uterus, in utero. Although not everybody, does so. So I don't know. I just thought it was an interesting comparison to men why that happens eventually to women as well.
Janeeka BenoitNo, that's a great analogy. And just like another thing that I wanted to mention so that's why body composition is important, right? Because those body composition changes, they're more menopause, specific because you're getting this increased, visceral fat. And if you're not doing any type of resistance training you can be losing lean mass, further, contributing, to weight gain. And then you have all this increased fat in your midsection. So now you have both of that, right? And so it's now we look at body composition to see, okay, what is your proportion of fat to muscle? And not only... you're looking at body fat and you're looking at visceral fat, right? And so we wanna make sure that our body fat is down, our visceral fat is down, and that we're preserving muscle mass or increasing muscle mass.
Kerry RellerSo one thing you said was when you're 30-ish, your muscle mass is gonna start decreasing, right? So assumption is definitely one way, at least you and I can see, that someone might have weight gain, right? Because you can explain it, but the muscle mass is our glucose sink. They're using up and burning calories, right? So I'm trying to of all the ways of why someone say, "Why is it so hard to lose weight now when I'm doing all the same things," right? So one, I think, would be the muscle mass, right?
Janeeka BenoitAbsolutely.
Kerry Relleron that at all, and then I to see if we can think of some other things.
Janeeka BenoitYes. And so yes, you absolutely alluded
Muscle Mass, Metabolism & Weight Gain
Janeeka Benoitto it with... There's a couple of things. So number one your muscle is like a sponge, right? And so it helps to soak up glucose without even needing insulin. So that's why it's great to have adequate amount of muscle because, if you do have element of insulin resistance, you're not constantly pu- you're not constantly having to pump out insulin to help store nutrients because your muscle is able to do the work without even needing insulin. So that's number one. Number two is that you're able to burn calories at rest. And so what that means is you think about having a mansion, living in a mansion versus a one-bedroom apartment. That mansion is going to be, is going to take more energy to maintain, rather just like a small one-bedroom apartment. So the more muscle you have, the more energy it's going to burn because it takes more energy to maintain muscle on your body, okay? And then also with having muscle mass, that helps to boost your metabolism and it helps to increase your metabolism, specifically your basal metabolic rate, right? Which is what goes down as we age. And your ba- your basal metabolic rate increases and that helps to boost your metabolism and that helps to help control your weight better
Kerry RellerAbsolutely, and I'm sure, you measure these things in your practice like
Janeeka BenoitAbsolutely. Yes.
Kerry Rellerthe data.
Janeeka BenoitYes
Kerry Rellerone is, the muscle obviously, and then another thing that might be say, what if they tell you, "Oh, I'm doing all the same things and the same exercises." How would you respond to someone saying I can't lose weight but I'm doing all the same things"?
Janeeka BenoitYeah. And so with that oh my gosh, there's so many different things that I have to look at. So when, when patients come into my practice, like I do an in-depth intake form, right? And so I'm evaluating things for, even for like mood disorders, anxiety, depression sleep. I'm asking questions about their sleep. That's a huge, a thing. Over-training, right? Sometimes it's over-training and there's just, so much cortisol as a result from the increased stress on the body from over-training that can impact weight loss. Then there is, metabolic syndrome. And so I'm looking, at labs, okay? Is there increased elevated LDL cholesterol? Is your fastum- fasting glucose elevated? Is there elevated A1C? Asking about family history. Is there a, a family history of, diabetes, cardiovascular disease? And there's all these things that I have to evaluate to see, okay what are the players here? Sometimes it's just, season of life, like life is, really hard right now and so they are really not able to nourish themselves. So like improper fueling because if you're doing the same exercises and you're not properly fueling yourself, those, those exercise are not going to yield the benefit that you intend them to have. And so there are... I have to take a bird's-eye approach as, do the intake form and then I, and I come in deeper to ask those targeted questions to see, okay, what are the main levers here that is impacting your your ability to lose weight?
Kerry RellerThere can definitely be so many different things. You just said a million of them. I was alluding to... Where is that word? I keep using alluding today. But of exercise, that if you're doing the same exercises and not doing any sort of challenge
Janeeka BenoitOh, I see. Okay
Kerry Relleror increase in frequency or increase in intensity, then you're doing the same thing, but it's not as hard, right? So
Janeeka BenoitYeah.
Kerry Rellerworking as hard,
Janeeka BenoitYes
Kerry RellerSo if you're not working as hard to do these things, then you're not burning as many calories, if you wanna talk calories in and out, right? Then that's one reason why you may think that you're burning as many as you were previously, but you're not because you're not working hard enough. You have to continue to challenge
Janeeka BenoitAbsolutely.
How to Make Resistance Training More Effective
Janeeka BenoitAnd so with resistance training, there are different components. There's strength, there is power, and there's hypertrophy, okay? And so with strength, that is the maximal force that your muscle can produce, right? And according to the American College the American College of Sports Medicine, the recent guidelines that were, that came out in 2026 that maximal load is really considered to be 80% of your one rep max. So that means if you were to do a bicep curl and you did 10 pounds and 10 pounds at one rep was the most you can do to contract that muscle with one bicep curl, then you'd have to bring it down to 80%, so that you would have to pick up an eight-pound weight to do your bicep curls to work on the strength portion of your resistance training, okay? Then there is power. Power is the the rate at which muscle is able to contract. So you're thinking about how fast can you move by moving, by by lifting a moderate load, right? And so this could be something like a wood chop. You know what I mean? You're really focusing on speed, but you have a heavy load at the same time. And then and then there is hypertrophy, which is growth of a muscle, and for that, you're really focusing on volume. So you wanna think increase sets. So you wanna at least have 10 or more sets per muscle group in a week, in a seven-day period. And and so that is the way to create a really robust resistance training that continues to challenge you. So with... And I'll just do a quick repa- recap. So with strength, you wanna really focus on 80% of one, of your one rep max. With power, you want to focus on speed with a moderate load, and then with hypertrophy or muscle growth, you really wanna focus on volume, which is increasing your sets or reps
Kerry RellerAnd I think that's a great explanation, and those are the things that sometimes are missing in some people's plans,
Janeeka BenoitYes
Kerry RellerThey're just doing their same old workout that they've been doing for 10 years, and yet not challenging, not doing progressive overload, not working on re- like strength, power, and hypertrophy, right? And I think that can be one reason why you think you're doing all the same things and you're, why... Like, why are you not having success with what you're trying to do with weight loss or improved body composition,
Janeeka BenoitAbsolutely. Absolutely
Kerry RellerYeah, so I think that's more of the fitness thing. The other thing is probably just daily life activity, right? Perhaps in your, mid-30s you're moving around more if you were having children or an active job. Things are different then and you are just doing more activities, right? As you age, and like you mentioned, like chronologic age and other ovarian aging, but as you do that, sometimes our- we're just more sedentary than we actually realize, and I think that also is another, contributor to maybe what you think you're doing is the same, but in reality it's not, if we were videoing you every day of your life, right?
Janeeka BenoitYeah, exactly. And then, especially in this age of working from home and,
Kerry Rellerउहम्म
Janeeka Benoitlaptop, AI and all these things, we're s- we're more sedentary these days. And so we have to be intentional of, just moving, right? If you don't even get to the strength training part, it's just moving
Everyday Movement Matters More Than You Think
Janeeka Benoitgetting steps in on a regular basis, and it doesn't have to be so routine. Little things like parking your car farther away, taking the steps, walking to your destination instead of taking the car, right? Just things like that we can incorporate during our daily life because, we're busy. We have busy lives. But if we can integrate these things into our life, instead of thinking, "Okay, I have to get to the gym and I have to be there for an hour," if we can learn to integrate it and just make it part of our life, it also feels less pressure-filled. And it also becomes your identity. This is what I do, right? This is, I I walk to the store and ha- you know, get my fresh fruits or I walk to the farmers market every Saturday and, that's how I get my activity in. And so it really helps to remove a lot of the pressure and also the perfectionism because the women that I deal with, they're very high-achieving, that everything needs to be a certain way, and I'm like, it doesn't have to be so perfect. And just removing some of the pressure, the perfectionism to get it to look a certain way is also very beneficial
Kerry RellerYeah, I think just those, those basic things of being intentional about it, like parking farther or, you know, standing up more, walking around your home instead of when I'm working from home on Wednesdays, I'm just, I barely move. It's bad, right? But if you're really thinking about it and, like you said, actually creating that identity that you're a person who moves, you're a person who eats healthy, you're a person that exercises, and you're a person that sleeps well, I think that really can make a big difference in the mindset of actually, thinking, being purposeful about it essentially, right? I think incorporating that in, like you said, sometimes we call them exercise snacks or, whether that's a exercise snack or just getting yourself to move more I think is a great thing too because you're right. Honestly, the, the people that come to me most struggling with weight are, like, often people that are working from home and are like, "My job is just so sedentary and I don't do anything." I'm like you gotta get moving," right? It's
Janeeka BenoitRight
Kerry Rellermain things. So I feel like you said, that's definitely one of the things as, you're approaching that menopause age or as we just age in general you're moving less, and that's another component, right? You think you're exercising the same. You're just not moving as much in general, so those big movement factors are a huge play as well,
Janeeka BenoitAbsolutely. Absolutely
Kerry RellerYeah. And then you obviously already said the whole part about having more muscle and challenging that muscle as well.
Janeeka BenoitYes. And then I also encourage, patients to get creative. Some of my patients are like, it really depends on the weather, right? So if it's like cold outside, and I have a w- y- a- like I prefer to walk outside. And so I say things like, "Could you push your walking pad like facing the window so that it looks like, you're able to see outside?" And I think, sometimes y- like me included, we get into a certain like routine again of doing things. It's hard to think outside the box. Oh, like I can put my walking pad facing the window so that I could get the sunlight in my face, and I could see people walking by, if it's raining, right? Or if it's like sweltering heat outside. And just thinking about like outside the box. If you have stairs and, you don't have any knee issues, so walk up and down the stairs. That's another thing that you can do. Just, using the steps in your home, going just up and down the steps. And And then I also I try to m- especially, people who have a hard time to conceptualize exercising, I tell them, "You squat every day." And they're like, "Okay, what do you mean?" I'm like, "You sit. Don't you sit every day? Like you are doing a squat when you sit." So what if you, before you sat down, you just did five like butt taps on your computer chair? You are squatting. That, that is a squat. And so just helping people think about other ways that doesn't look so like so standard, like going to the gym for an hour, right? If that is not, if you're not able to do that just given the season of busyness that you're in, that's okay. Can you do five butt taps before you sit down on the computer? Or, doing a pushup. You don't have to get on the floor. You can do wall pushups. So you have a wall in your house? Okay, so go ahead and do, five wall pushups. When you walking, when you walk, you're essentially doing a lunge, and when you're in the stance phase of walking, that is a lunge. What if you just bent down a little lower and went down into a a, a lunge? You're, that's a lunge, right? And so just getting people to think about exercise in a different way, rather than doing a HIIT class or a- doing a group Zumba class. If they don't have time to, drive to the gym or any of those things, like they can use, their home their world at their disposal, and they could still get it done.
Kerry RellerYeah, absolutely. It doesn't have to be some sort of organized class
Janeeka BenoitExactly
Kerry Rellerthat it is good to plan ahead, it is good to set out your clothes for all these things. I'm not gonna say that's not a good thing to do. But you can still get, the workout or however you wanna call it, the activity in throughout the day. So those are great little tips. Also, I haven't seen too many people walking and doing lunges, but that would be a great addition. You see all the weighted vests now, but
Janeeka BenoitYeah. Right
Kerry Rellerpeople doing lunges
Janeeka BenoitExactly.
Kerry Rellerand I
Janeeka BenoitYeah
Kerry Rellerenhance the gluteal load there.
Janeeka BenoitExactly. Exactly. For sure.
Kerry RellerSo like you said, get creative. I think
Janeeka BenoitYeah.
Kerry Relleridea.
Janeeka BenoitYeah
Kerry RellerYou also said, talked about elevated cortisol and sleep and... Can you make any comment on that and why that might be something someone would, think that might be contributing to weight gain or
Janeeka BenoitAbsolutely
Kerry Rellerin menopause
Janeeka BenoitYeah, absolutely.
Sleep, Stress, Cortisol & Weight
Janeeka BenoitNumber one when we have the increased visceral fat that is attributed toward or from ovarian aging as a result of estrogen deficiency that insulin resistance and that visceral fat that we develop, number one, that creates this low level state of inflammation, right? And so we have this constant low level state of inflammation. And then, when it comes to, increased stress, increased emotional stress that can also raise our cortisol levels. And with cortisol, it follows a a natural clock, right? And cortisol will, it's like your wake-up hormone. So it typically is highest right before you wake up. It's lowest, like, when you're about to go to sleep, and then as you sleep, it starts to increase, and then it starts to peak right before you wake up, right? And it's, and so it's there to help you wake up. Now, when you have elevated, so when you have too much cortisol there it could lead to less restorative sleep. And so that deep sleep that is necessary with, for memory and mood regulation, there is less of that due to, increased cortisol because the cortisol, it is a wake-up hormone, so you're more awake than you should be when you should be in a more more deep and restorative stage of sleep, right? So you may feel more restless. Your sleep may be more easily perturbed, right? So you may have just lighter sleep. And you you enter less into that that dream sleep, that REM sleep, right? And so with all of that, that helps to... or that creates also the storm for sleep deprivation, right? And so this increased cortisol is contributing to sleep deprivation, and with sleep deprivation, that can also lead to weight gain, right? So you have increased cortisol, and then even with increased cortisol, when cortisol is chronically present, that impairs how insulin works, right? And so you have increased cortisol chronically due to sleep deprivation or due to visceral fat that develops as a result of ovarian aging, and that again impairs how insulin works, and that also affects our ability to lose weight. And it it creates an imbalance of our fat compared to muscle. All of these things are, it's... I always try to explain this. It's always kinda hard to explain, but it's like everything is happening at the same time, and and 'cause everything affects each other, right? All these hormones affect each other. So you have cortisol that's elevated, but the elevated cortisol is also affecting insulin. And then you have insulin, which is, causing more fat storage, and then that is causing the body composition changes that you're seeing. And all of that, could be related to the changes that are happening to menopa- from menopause. It could be related to just increased stress that you're experiencing. It could be related to not being intentional about, sleep. It could be related to sleep-disordered breathing, that is Also causing increased sleep that could then also affect cortisol. So all these things affect one another. All these hormones affect one another. And but the main thing is focusing on the main levers. Okay what is happening? Sometimes you have to focus on two things at one time. But all these hormones start to affect one another, so we have to make sure that, we're focusing on one thing or a couple of things to get patients losing weight and getting... making them healthy and active
Kerry RellerSo I have a lot of comments, but the all, all very important things. I would say you's mentioned sleep disorder. Breathing, sleep apnea, as is more more prevalent in,
Janeeka BenoitYes.
Kerry Rellerwomen Undiagnosed,
Janeeka BenoitYes,
Kerry RellerAnd that could lead to non-restorative sleep and therefore, when you don't get rest, whatever, good sleep, restful sleep, then you can have elevated cortisol levels. So
Janeeka BenoitYes.
Kerry Rellervicious
Janeeka BenoitThis is what I'm saying.
Kerry RellerYeah. And then when that happens, you really gonna have the energy and the motivation to do these extra exercises,
Janeeka BenoitExactly.
Kerry Rellerabout
Janeeka Benoitright
Kerry Rellergoes in the mouth? And you know that less sleep and elevated cortisol can increase ghrelin and make people more hungry. So not only maybe
Janeeka BenoitAbsolutely
Kerry Rellermore hours if you have bad sleep, but we know that the ghrelin hunger hormone is increased and possibly cortisol. So it's a, as you said, a vicious cycle, and it really is individualized like you
Janeeka BenoitYes
Kerry Rellerin your practice on, really getting a good history from the person or the patient, and making sure you're understanding all the things that are going on in their life. Because the cortisol could be elevated also just because it is a stressful time in life, right? There could be a lot of going things going on. Usually, you might be caregiving for parents and caregiving for children at the same time during these, this same period where you're having difficulty with weight, right?
Janeeka BenoitAbsolutely
Kerry RellerYeah. I feel like we've covered a lot. You are doing so much in your practice. Is there anything that you wanted to really focus on that we didn't go over?
Janeeka BenoitNo, I think all of this is, fair game. I think, the one thing that I wanted to talk about
Mindset, Consistency & Letting Go of Perfection
Janeeka Benoitis just, m- also mindset. Because, especially, with high achievers sometimes... And we alluded to it. I like me using alluded to your word.
Kerry RellerThe word of the day
Janeeka Benoityes. S- sometimes we get into this all or noth- none thinking okay I have... I didn't get my one workout in for the day and so I'm not going to work out anymore for the week because I failed, right? And so it's also recognizing it's not about being perfect, it's about being consistent, right? And so helping my patients, recognize that, and also helping them not to disqualify the positives. Every time I see a patient I always ask them what is their win for the week in terms of their health, and sometimes they're like, "Oh, I didn't do anything." And I'm like, "Really? You didn't?" And they're like, "Oh yeah I went to the gym like two days this week, and I got my, my three protein sources." And I'm like, "Okay, you did s- you, you did things." And it's because they have their idea of what it should look like or they feel like, okay, it has to be this certain way. And so it's very easy to, for them to disqualify what they have done. They're focusing on the things that they didn't do, but not focusing on the things when they did do. So always helping that helping them to put it in perspective. I'm like, "Okay you didn't do those, those things, but look at all the amazing things that you have done. That is amazing." And they're like, "Oh yeah, like I did." And I think... And it sounds like, I feel when I explain it, it sounds very simple, but it's so easy. Like me for included, right? It's, it can be so easy for us to focus on the things that we did not do and for us to to not see all the amazing things that we have done. And just like in whatever. Just like even in life, not even in regards to our health, right? And just helping them see that and getting them, like training them to also get in the mindset like, "Okay, let me not focus on the things that I didn't do. What did I do today? What did I do?" Because then that is going to give you the motivation to keep on going, right? It can be so easy to just like stop but it's gonna give you a ro- motivation to, continue make that investment in your health.
Kerry RellerI think there's a lot of deliberation also on things that are bad in quotes, right? Or they feel maybe guilt about that they did do instead of
Janeeka BenoitRight
Kerry Rellerright? Or, they were on a cruise and had a drink and a
Janeeka BenoitOoh
Kerry RellerYou know what I mean. So there's a lot of guilt around that, and realizing, hey, you're human, you need to enjoy life as well, I think
Janeeka BenoitYes
Kerry RellerBut stay in that whole mindset that you have created and that identity that, hey, I'm a person that gets right back on board if I have something that might be off my plan or whatever so I think it... the mindset and the motivation and the identity and that whole piece of it is probably the most important really.
Janeeka BenoitI, yeah. And back to the guilt because, I tell my patients "Okay, if you wanna have something really delicious, make sure it is really delicious for you." So if it's your birthday you're, like you can't not have cake on your birthday, if your, or your friend brought you this delicious chocolate cake from your like your favorite store, have your slice of cake, in moderation. Make sure that, you're satiated from, other nutrient sources, and have that, that slice of cake. Like really enjoy that slice of cake. And when I say that they're like, "What? Like I can have cake?" And I'm like, "Yeah, this is not like where I'm telling you like, 'Don't do this,' and I'm berating you for all the things that, you're eating." And I just help them put it into perspective. If you know that you're going to have that slice of cake, just make sure that like during the day you're satiated enough so that y- you feel content with that just one slice, and just helping their mindset and the way that they like, you know, plan out meals. If they know they're going out with their friends to a restaurant and they have all this yummy food, maybe just look at the menu in advance and like decide, "Okay, what am I gonna order?" Or if you wanna order something, like y- you can share it amongst friends, to just share the wealth. And so just thinking about food in a different way instead of feeling guilty for like eating more, just like eating bad, right? There's a way to think about this stuff where you don't have that immense guilt, because with that guilt it is so hard to continue to go. And so always, having them, change their mindset, especially how they relate to food and like the feelings that, that come with that. And helping them to process that and helping them to be mindful in the moment, right? Instead of just, eating out of reactivity and just being aware am I hungry or am I craving this? And if I have a craving, why am I craving this? Is it because like I'm stressed out and I and I've been working so much and I just want something, carb-related to make me feel good? And so helping to really think about their food choices, helping to be mindful in the moment that helps to also decrease that feeling of guilt.
Kerry RellerYeah, a lot of really good points there. Of course, the that mindset and the idea of really we're talking about emotional eating
Janeeka BenoitYeah.
Kerry RellerLabeling it for what it is. Make sure you're, try to always be eating out of hunger, and like you said, that nutritious meal before you, you have, that item or whatever it is, your birthday cake or whatever,
Janeeka BenoitYeah
Kerry RellerI think is very helpful too so you don't, consume more than you maybe had planned or whatever, I think is really important too.
Janeeka BenoitExactly.
Kerry Rellera little different in that area. Everybody
Janeeka BenoitYeah
Kerry Rellertriggers and things that might make them do something that they didn't wanna do, eat more than that, whatever it is. So it's, you really have to be conscientious and careful about how you're talking with everybody. But that's the beauty of, working one-on-one with somebody. So that's good. I like your philosophies for sure.
Janeeka BenoitThank
Kerry RellerYeah we've talked
Janeeka Benoityou
Kerry Rellerso much. Is there any- anything else you wanted to share? Or let me ask where people can find you, if that's-
Janeeka BenoitYeah, we really did cover multiple topics in this short amount of time. Yeah, so I'm, pretty active on the socials. You can find me on Instagram at Dr., that's D-R, Janeka, J-A-N-E-K-A Benoit, B-E-N-O-I-T underscore D-O. I'm also there on TikTok. I've started TikTok. And I'm also at LinkedIn at this, at the same name.
Kerry RellerYes
Janeeka BenoitI'm on all those. And then my website is www.invesselehealth.com.
Kerry RellerVery nice.
Janeeka BenoitYeah.
Kerry Rellerlearned all about why you named it that.
Janeeka BenoitYes.
Kerry Rellercool. Yeah. Thank you so much for joining us on the podcast today. This was a lot of fun, always. And you're welcome back anytime. And everybody stay tuned next week for next week's episode. Get Healthy Tampa Bay.
Janeeka BenoitAwesome. Thank you. Thank you
